Road rail



O. L. BRAUN Dec. 1l, 1951 ROAD RAIL 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Filed April 2. 1947 Dec. ll, 1951 o, L BRAUN 2,577,996

ROAD RAIL l Filed April 2. 194'? 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 INVENTOR Uttwinl. .Bra un r al; f gf uw ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 11, 159,51

JMJ., .V A.

-RoAD RAIL- Appueatibn April 2,1947, serial No. V738370 44 claims. (ci. 253-1118) This'invention relates to road rails or forms ofthe type commonly used for defining the contourand grade of the marginal edges of concrete, asphalt, or other forms of pavements, roadways, or Walks during the process of construction.

In addition to serving as a mould for, concrete or` the like of which the road is made, the forms also serve as trackways, guides and the like for road Vbuilding and finishing machinery. Such uses impose substantial loads including spreading action which must be borne bythe forms Without material deflection or shifting, and therefore not only must the rail structure be substantial, but provision, must, also be made for very rigid attachment of the rails to the ground. This attachment is commonly made by driving metal stakes into the ground as closely as possible to the desired position. The forms are then positioned in the desired accurate alignment and finally are rigidly secured to the stakes by means of what is known as stake pockets which are secured to the forms at spaced intervals. The

stakes when the forms are set are securely lockedV to the stake pockets.`

The road rails are made in sections of convenientA length, preferably of sheet steel formed l tofthe desired shape and arranged end to end alng'the edges of the proposed pavement. After the'rails are assembled they must be accurately aligned and securely fastened inposition on the underlying ground.

While it is usually possible to accurately position the point of the stake at the beginning of the driving operation, the final position may be altered or the stake deflected by obstructions encountered in the ground or by lack of skill of the stake driver. It is also important that the rail form be of uniform rigidity throughout its length to prevent waves in the finished road surface. Therefore the staking devices must not interfere with the uniform rigidity of the rail forms.

My invention provides an arrangement which permits the accurate alignment of the forms and a rm and rigid attachment to the stakes even though the stakes have been deflected or inaccurately positioned.

It is one of the objects to provide a novel and practical form staking device and means forisecuring together the rails and the stake in the desired aligned position. The attachment can be easily made and quickly disassembled.

Another object is to provide an improved locking device for engagement with the stake.

A still further object is to provide a stake wedging arrangement which will serve as the adjustable elements for accurately aligningl the rails, and also for rigidly attaching the rails to thel stakes, and without interfering with the rigidity ,of the rail forms.

In the drawings wherein I have shown for pur- Figure. 3; is an elevation of a portion of the roadl rail;

Figure 411s aperspective view of a detail of .the arrangement; and

Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views of vtwo other details.

In Vthe drawings,

cates `the web or upstanding part at the top of Whichra flange I2 is provided, the outer portion of; whichterminates in a downturnedlip I3. At each of spaced locations along each rail a stakeengaging device or stake pocket A is provided,`

whereby the rail maybe accurately aligned and securely fastened to round metal stakes driven into the ground at determined locations.

Each stake pocket A includes two brackets Illl generally parallel to one another and spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the stakes that are employed. Each bracket (see Figure 4) is conveniently formed from sheet metal, has a flat side plate I5 and a ange I6 extending at right angles from the bottom of the body so as to engage the base I0 of the rail and a similar flange Il extending from the side of the body to engage the web II. The two flanges are fastened to the rail preferably by rivets I8 as shown. In each side plate are two symmetrically disposed slots I9 each beginning near the top of the plate, and extending downwardly to approach one another so as to define an open V. At the top each slot makes a turn outwardly and then downwardly for a short distance to a nest 20.

A curved top plate 2| overlies the top edge of the positioned brackets and is welded to them, but not to the lip I3. The plate 2l has an elongated slot 22 through which the stake may loosely pass and thence through the aligned opening 23 in the rail base. The opening 23 is somewhat larger than the stake.

A sliding member or bolt 24 passes through each aligned pair of slots I9 as shown. One end UNITED A'sfrlrriz!s ,l PTENT orner:ffgfifL asiatica;

the reference numeral Il)l designates the vbase portion of the rail and II indi- Figure 6 shows a member or bolt 28 generallyl 10 V l guided movement therein for exerting a wedging oval in section and having a transverse hole at each end whereby blank nuts may be retained; by the employment of cotter pins.

In use the rails are laid en dtoendiandposi-` tioned carefully on the preparedground;` The-1.5

stakes are then passed through slots 224 and 237i' and driven firmly into the ground, While .drivel ing the stakes the bolts 24 should be received in, the nests 2li.V The forms are then finally aligned to accurate grade and position and the bolts 24 20 are lifted from the nests `and are' moved =down` the slots to-tightlyengage the` stake-on oppositesides;Y The stake is-very firmly held by thewedg'- ing` action but Whenever it becomes necessaryfrtoloosen the connection betweenfthewa-ilfiand the;A 25

stalce a slight upward movement rof the: bolts -wil1 sum'eef. It.-is. also i of importanceto bearu immind that any vibration ofi the-formftends toiL lower theYK boltsand thus further-wedge the rails and 'stake together and to increase-the ygripping-action.

-W-hilelhave shown aY-preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood thatvarious-l changes may besmade inthe-details of construction without departing from the scope of my inr vention; as defined in thefollowing-claims;

I claim:

11 A-road-form and=stake pocket structurecomprisingV a rail having a vertically extending web and-'a horizontal base portion, av pairof spaced anges extending perpendicular to said web andi 40 cooperating therewith to define a stake pocketfr each Yoi. saidlflanges havingy a pair ofrdownwardly-- converging slotsL extending through the Walls:` thereof; a` pair of Wedging bolts respectivelyhavf-v ingoppositeends'extending-through similar slots 1.5L tothe routside of 'saidilangesr and. having guided" movementthereinfor exertinga wedging action: on a stake extending upwardly through4 saidY stairepocket, and a-v top/plate spanningf-andf-secured-to the top-edges ofsaid flanges saidtop" 50 platev andV rail baselJ portion having stake'-receivingiv openings for-maintaining al stake in said-'1 pocketl in position -for-wedgingengagementby said boltsgf 2. A road form and stake pocket structure comprising a rail having a vertically extending web and a horizontal base portion, a pair of spaced anges extending perpendicular to said web and cooperating therewith to define a stake pocket. each of said flanges having a pair of downwardly converging slots extending through the walls thereof, vandjia pair of wedging bolts `respectively having opposite ends extending through similar slots to the outside of said ilanges and having action on a stake extending upwardly through said stake pocket, said structure further having vertically-spaced partswith stake receiving openings therein fori maintaining a stake in said pocket' in` position for wedging engagement by Sidibolte 3. A road form and stake pocket structure comprising a rail havinga vertically extending claimed in claim 2Min-.which thefuppereendl om said' slots .terminate inmests :in .which the ends-f` of said. bolts-may be :received and retainedfagainst t downwardimovementin saidsslotsto an operative;i

Wedging. position;A

OTT-WIN L'. BRAUN,-

KE,ITI'LBENCESA CITED- The followingreferences are -of recordI in the` file of thisepatentr UNITED, STATES PATENTS.

Number l' Name Dates 644,633 Penticoif; ?1 Mar: 6, 1900.; 923,276 King Jurierli.19091A 

